Forty miles to go and computer said: no, I wouldn’t make it home

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Very low battery — it might not be possible to reach destination,” said the disembodied female voice coming from the dashboard of the electric car. She repeated the warning every few minutes and the screen ordered me to “turn OFF climate control” to save electricity.

I was 40 miles from my home in the New Forest and the Nissan Leaf’s computer told me the battery would last only 30 miles.

The screen offered to search for charging stations en route. I pressed “yes” and it replied: “Data does not exist for this location.” I began to experience what is known in